MIAMI.- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg anticipated that at least 18 of the 31 member countries of the transoceanic military defense organization will comply with the commitment to invest at least 2% of GDP.
“This year we expect 18 allies to spend 2% of their GDP on defense. This is another record,” the head of the organization announced during a press conference in Brussels, prior to a meeting between NATO Defense Ministers.
Stoltenberg offered the figure after being asked about the words of former United States President Donald Trump who said he would let Russia do “whatever the hell it wants” with any allied country that did not spend enough on defense.
Promise
10 years ago, the military alliance committed that by 2024 all allies would spend 2% of GDP on defense, although at the last summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the countries stated that the objective was not a limit, but the minimum. required.
In fact, in 2014, only three countries met the objective and by the end of this year there will be “six times more” countries, as Stoltenberg anticipated, which would make more than half of the allies spend at least 2%.
According to the latest data provided by NATO, in 2024, European partners will have invested a total of “$380 billion in defense”, for the first time exceeding 2% of GDP as a whole.
However, despite the announcement, there are still countries that are far from meeting the objective, such as Spain or Luxembourg, although they have announced significant increases in this regard, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine broke out almost 24 months ago.
“A strong NATO is important for the United States, it makes them stronger, but it is also important for its national security,” said the head of the military organization.
He then recalled that the first and only time that collective defense was activated was on September 11, 2001, requested then by the Government of President George W. Bush, after the attacks in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania.
“Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines our entire security,” he stressed.
However, he also urged countries that have not yet met the investment amount to do so and assured that Trump’s criticism is not against the Alliance “but against those who do not spend enough on NATO, and this is a valid point.” .
He then confirmed: “The good news is that it is already being done, that more and more allies are complying and others have committed that they will arrive very soon.”
